"These are a few of my favorite things" - Caroline

Conversation this morning over our kitchen island while we prepared lunch:

Caroline: "Daddy what do you think my favorite thing is?"
Daddy: "I don't really know. Let me guess, baby turtles?"
Caroline: "Nope."
Daddy: "OK, what then?"
Caroline: "My favorite things are quesadillas and checking the mail."

Picture #1: Earlier in the morning, daddy spent some time disassembling Abigail's old stock radio from her 2003 Toyota Matrix which she purchased a few months ago. I had a big helper in Olivia as I scavenged for various fasteners and other parts to throw in my misc nuts & bolts box.

Picture #2: As I was sipping my coffee this morning, Sarah started playing a beat from her phone. I started bobbing up and down, doing my best to sincerely impress my teenage daughter with my white boy dance moves. Of course, I did nothing more than embarass her and give her something to laugh at. She really laughed when my coffee mug handle broke right off from the sheer up and down force of my dancing bobs. Surely only a naturally skilled hip hop dancer could actually break off a mug handle, right? The mug was actually one I broke many years ago in a hallway at Zebco. My great co-worker Chad Hoffman who was our model maker at the time, fused the handle pieces back together which gave my mug approximately 10 additional years of life. It had a great run, but this time it was not worth attempting to fuse back together.

Picture #3: For the 2nd time in a week, we had a tiny box turtle exploring our back yard. I was cue'd into this little guy by a trail left in the grass by his scooting across the dew drops earlier that morning. The girls eaglerly took turns holding it and give it the name "Pokey".

Pictures 4 and 5: Abigail got her license Monday morning by narrowly passing her drivers exam. Phew! As soon as her and I returned home from the visit to the DMV (and of course a daddy-funded coffee to show his congratulations), she and Sarah jumped in and took their first freedom ride with no adult present. They went to the local coffee shop to "study".

Charlotte's Cold Feelings For Ty

This afternoon, Charlotte and Caroline were out in the yard playing with the neighbor boys, Grant and Ty Hawkins. According to Caroline, the conversation went like this: Charlotte: "I want to marry you Ty" Ty: "Do you think I am hot?" Charlote: (walks over to him, pulls up his sleeve, and touches his arm) "No, you are cold" The humor of 4 year old Charlotte always brings smiles to this family. It is spring break week and yesterday was Sarah's birthday. We decided instead of a whole family dinner of Sarah's choosing, we would make it a special mommy/daddy/daughter date out with just the 3 of us. We had a great time eating at Charleston's where we debated whether or not fishing was a strenuous enough activity to qualify as a "sport". Abigail needed help tonight as she dipped her toes into Trigonometry for the first time, and Daddy was eager to help because that is his favorite math topic of all time. Anna had a normal soccer practice tonight and came home to tell us that Braylen apparently injured herself while ice skating during Anna's birthday party on Friday night. It started with just falling on her duff, and apparently the pain started creeping up her back and now is hurting her neck so much she can't even turn her head! Meanwhile, Papa helped watch the girls tonight while we were out to dinner. He did a great helpful thing getting Charlotte ready for bed and getting her all ready in her PJ's. After he left, mommy and daddy were messing around in the closet not keeping an eye on her. Charlotte and Caroline were already in the bathtub, and when daddy walked out of the closet, Charlotte had crawled into the full bathtub, PJ's, diaper and all!

And lastly, we've been saying the rosary each night as a family activity for lent. Because it always works into bedtime, Charlotte has been known to fall asleep sometime during the 2nd or 3rd decade. Tonight was no different. It might seem sacreligious, but we chuckle because Charlotte looks like a corpse in her sleep pose with a rosary wrapped around her hand.